Shadow from the Past
by NobleMETA
Summary: Of all the people that had to show up to this damn place that I was stuck in, it just had to be the one person that probably pissed me off the most right now. More than the damn 'Ice Queen' that I was stuck with, and a hell of a lot more than Jimmy did.-My entry for the RWBY subreddit's MonCon for April. Enjoy!
I tell you, this is honestly the worst way for me to end up right now. I'm stuck out in a cabin in the middle of the woods of Mistral, and the one person I had to get stuck with happened to be one of Atlas' "Elite Specialists", and not only that, I know without a shadow of a doubt that I'm going to run out of whiskey in my flask by tomorrow morning.

All in all, tonight is just going to be miserable for me.

How did I happen to end up in this situation in the first place? Well, you can thank my dear friend Professor Ozpin for that one. He gets one hint of trouble coming from this area, and the next thing I know, he's sending me out here with dear old Winter Schnee to tag along with me. Don't know why she has to be here, I honestly didn't need the help to begin with.

At least that's what I thought before _she_ showed up.

Of all the people that had to show up to this damn place that I was stuck in, it just had to be the one person that probably pissed me off the most right now. More than the damn 'Ice Queen' that I was stuck with, and a hell of a lot more than Jimmy did.

And of course, she just had to be my own god damn sister, Raven.

The person who ran when she was faced with being responsible for someone other than herself. The mother who had abandoned her child so that she could go out and do what she feels is the right thing to do. She may be my sister, but god dammit she can be such an idiot at times, it makes me want to just smack her upside the head and knock some sense into her.

Once Raven showed up, I all but dragged the Ice Queen out of there so that we didn't get caught in the carnage. Of course, she wasn't happy about that. Granted, she usually never is happy from what I could tell. Doesn't help that she was adamant about the two of us not working together right from the start.

The thing is, she doesn't know my sister like I do, that should be fairly obvious. But even my own team, the people that I've worked with for the longest time, some of my closest friends, don't know Raven like I do.

I still don't know why Summer tried to see the best in my twin, those two were complete polar opposites. While Summer brought out the best in people, Raven brought out the worst. Knowing what I know now, I can understand why Raven entertained the idea of following Summer, at least to a degree. Unfortunately, despite her following, Raven kept up with her usual chaos in the process.

As kids, we would get into trouble. Well, Raven would at least. She had a vicious streak to her, an extremely short temper, and a tendency to tear you apart in different ways should she feel like it. I always had to pick up the pieces after her, clean up the mess she usually caused, and often times, I took the blame for her. She is my sister after all, so that's just what I would do for her.

I didn't care that I got in trouble for her actions, she was my twin, and despite being the way she was, I wanted to look out for her. You would figure that would earn you a little bit of gratitude from your younger twin, but all it did was egg her on. She got progressively worse as we went, and only when I enlisted at Beacon all those years ago did she finally calm down to a degree and follow me there.

Now though, I don't even want to know what kinds of trouble she has gotten into without me. It's been 13 years since I've last seen Raven, 13 years since she abandoned Yang as an infant. That was the day that Team STRQ fell apart, only for the team to die not 3 years later after Summer passed away. Ten years since Summer died, and Raven shows up _now_?

What she looked like though, her immediate actions when she showed up; she fought against the men who me and Ice Queen were supposed to find ourselves. Something about this seems odd, but I don't really have the time to contemplate this.

I can tell that the Ice Queen is already gung ho to question me about this, but I don't plan on talking about her unless there is more alcohol in my system, and not a second before. So, with my flask in hand, I took a swig as I sat down on a recliner that was available to us in this cabin. At least Oz and Jimmy gave us some half decent accommodations while we were out on this mission.

So, what was it that we were out here to do? Well it's simple, we were supposed to locate an up and coming member of the White Fang and bring him in for interrogation. Unfortunately, we didn't expect that they were waiting for us to show up. They led us right into an ambush, and I didn't see it coming, much like a first year student at Beacon.

Right before a fight broke out, Raven showed up. I literally dragged Winter out of there, and now we've made it back to this cabin, where I expect that I'm going to be questioned within the next few minutes. And looks like I was right, here comes Winter, ready to bite my head off.

"Do you have any reason as to why you dragged me out of there at the sight of that woman showing up?" Winter asked me.

I simply held my hand out as I took a few more swigs from my flask. Probably gonna run out within the next few minutes if this keeps up. Once I finished, I finally felt ready to actually say something to her. "Trust me when I say this, It's better for your health that I did."

"I don't have time for this, Qrow," Winter replied. "You owe me some answers, and I want them, now."

Instead of saying anything, I gesture towards the couch that is nearby. Winter takes the hint and sits down, her scowl not leaving her face as she does so. A shame really, most people would find her beautiful, an expression such as the one right now only taking away from that look. Personally, I could care less for her completely, but given that she just met my sister, she deserves to know what it is she was getting into.

"Since you're so curious about who that was and why I knew that she was bad news, then you should be aware that this isn't something that is gonna be repeated to anyone," I mentioned at first. She needed to know that anything I said wasn't to be repeated at all, to anyone. "You understand me?"

"If it means that I have to lie to General Ironwood or any of our superiors, then I won't be keeping your secret for you," Winter said immediately.

"Ok, first of all, get the stick out of your ass," I reacted. "Jimmy and Oz already know about who that person is. Anyone else though, people who don't need to know about her, don't get told. That's not a request."

I could see the anger on her face grow for a moment, before she took a deep breath and visibly calmed down. "Fine."

"Ok," I said, taking another swig before I began. "Let's start with the woman who showed up, what her name is. Her name is Raven, and she is my twin sister."

"Your what?"

"My twin sister," I repeat, a little bit annoyed that I had to repeat myself to Winter.

"Somehow, I find it hard to believe that you could identify someone that easily, despite the disturbing Grimm Mask that they wore to conceal their face," Winter challenged.

"When you grow up with someone for so long, it's easy for you to pick them out," I reply. "For starters, her weapon is the exact one that my sister uses. The hair color and style is similar, as is her battle garb. That was her, so don't even think about questioning me on that."

"Fine," Winter conceded. "So, even though that was your sister, why did you pull us away and leave her with that fight all by herself?"

I sighed and leaned back in the recliner, letting the leg rest pop out as I folded my arms behind my head. "Two reasons; reason one, she most likely would have prefered it if she got to fight all of them herself."

"And the second reason?"

At that, I looked towards Winter, and I could tell that I was giving her a deathly serious look with this response. "Reason two is because anyone in that area that wasn't myself and Raven would have been dead by the end of that fight."

"Including me?" Winter asked incredulously.

"Don't know," I honestly said. "But I wasn't willing to stick around and find out."

"So your sister would be willing to kill fellow Hunters? I don't see why she should be allowed to have a Hunting License if that is her attitude."

I couldn't help but chuckle at her ignorance. She really had no idea, and it's showing very brightly right now. "You really think she works within the rules? I'd say you don't know her very well, but then again, most people don't know her at all."

"So she's gone rogue then," Winter accused.

"I wouldn't know," I mentioned.

"How could you not know?" Winter questioned. She stood up by this point, frustrated by my answers I can assume. "She's your sister, so you should know about this!"

I sit up, pulling the recliner up with me, and take another swig of my flask. It's getting near the bottom, I could just tell. "Look, it's been a long time since we last spoke, and it wasn't exactly on good terms. So just realize that, ok?"

"Care to elaborate on that?" Winter asked.

For a moment, my eyes focus on the fireplace, the flames crackling with an orange glow. I couldn't help but remember that very day, the day that Raven left.

* * *

 _ **13 years ago**_

I looked down at the child resting inside of the crib at Taiyang's home. She looked so beautiful, surprisingly had many of her mother's features. Honestly, looking at old photos of my sister and I as children, and comparing them to little Yang, they look almost exactly the same. The only differences were that Yang has blonde hair, while Raven has black, and Yang's eyes are lilac, while Raven's are blood red.

"I guess you did pick up some of your dad's traits after all," I whispered to her, hoping that my words wouldn't wake her from her slumber.

As I turned around and walked out of the room, I could see Summer running up to me. "Qrow, you need to hurry," She said to me once I closed the door to Yang's room.

"What's going on?" I asked her.

"Your sister is leaving!" Summer said frantically. "Both Taiyang and I tried reaching her, but she won't listen, and now she's just running away!"

In all honesty, I shouldn't have been surprised, Raven wasn't the kind of person who would consider settling down with a child. Now that she was running away from her kid, I needed to reach her and smack some sense into her.

I chased after her, following any trail that I could that would lead me to her, and eventually, I did manage to catch up. "Raven!" I called out once I saw her. I could tell hearing me call to her definitely grabbed her attention, because she finally stopped walking.

I ran up to her, stood in front of her, hoping that I could get some explanation for what she was doing. Instead, all I got was an expressionless stare, as if she was wondering why I was standing in her way.

"What do you think you're doing?" I asked her eventually.

"What else does it look like I'm doing, Qrow?" She replied. "I'm leaving. There's too much that I need to do, and I can't bother taking care of a child."

"So you're just going to abandon her?" I countered. "You're just going to let this child grow up without their mother?"

"Why should I care about that?" Raven asked. "I didn't ask to be a mother, and besides, she still has you, Taiyang, and Summer who are willing to look after her. She'll be fine without me, and I have work to do."

"What is so important that you would just up and leave your family behind?" I continued to question. "Why do you have to do this alone?"

"You don't want to know," Raven said. "Now, get out of my way, unless you want to see what happens when you stand in my way."

"You would strike at your own brother?"

"Only if you try to stop me," Raven threatened.

It hurt. It hurt to see my own sister do this. But as much as I wanted to stop her, to slap some sense into her, I couldn't dare strike at my own sister. I just couldn't do it.

So I stood aside and let her leave.

I don't know how long I stood out there for, how long it was before Summer caught up with me. But when she did, I just clenched my fists, and walked back to the cabin. I really needed a drink more than anything.

* * *

 _ **Present**_

That day was a memory I retold to myself often when I had a chance, a story that would only be told to myself. Minor details every now and then could be shared, but the full tale, no one else heard it but me.

I don't know how long it was while I stared at that fire, but it wasn't until I saw Winter holding something up to my face that I finally remembered where I was. How fortunate though, she held a bottle of whiskey in front of me. Not only was it a really high quality whiskey, it was my favorite drink of all time.

"You were pretty quiet for a while there, so I figured you would have enjoyed some of this," Winter said. She seemed much calmer than before. Perhaps explaining the situation in a way helped calm her down, or maybe it was the way that I was focused on the fire in front of me that gave her the idea.

"You'll forgive me if I don't believe you to be the kind of person who would carry alcohol with them out on missions," I commented. "You seem too cut and dry for that kind of behavior."

"Let's just say that it was given to me by General Ironwood so that it could be passed on to you," Winter mentioned. "As a way of him saying thank you for putting up with working with me."

"You may be fresh out of Atlas Academy, but at least you know some humility," I commented.

"I hardly believe that following orders is considered humility," Winter rebuked.

"Not that," I countered. "Admitting that you understand being fresh out of the academy is considered a burden to a more seasoned hunter such as myself. Most hunters would act like they're the best in town when they don't have the experience to back it up."

"I see your point," Winter admitted. "So, are you going to explain what you meant when you said you and your sister last saw each other on bad terms?"

Sighing, I take the bottle that Winter handed to me and drink straight from it. I offered some to Winter, who declined at first, though some insistence on my part convinced her to grab a glass for each of us. Probably would be better to drink from a glass instead of from the bottle, not that I cared either way.

"Well, since you want to know so badly," I said after getting a few sips into my whiskey. "Raven left about 13 years ago, and she was willing to fight me if I tried to stop her."

"That's it?"

"No," I said, though I wasn't planning on going any further into the details. "But that's all I'm saying about it."

"Fair enough, I suppose," Winter conceded. "So what do you plan on doing now?"

Before I could say anything, a portal opened up behind Winter, the very same kind that Raven used. I immediately stood up, weapon in hand, and was ready to fight if need be.

Instead, Raven just strolled out casually, turning to me and just waiting. After a few moments, she took off her mask, and I could see her face for the first time in over a decade. She certainly has aged quite a bit from the last time I saw her, she looks much older and tired.

When she doesn't instantly go for the kill, I figure out that maybe she wants to talk with me after all this time. "Winter, go check the perimeter, see if anyone followed us to the cabin."

"But, you said-"

"Just go," I interrupted, leaving no room for argument. This was something that I needed to do alone, whether it was talking with my sister, or fighting her to what would end up being the death of one of us.

At that, Winter got up, her weapon in hand, and she walked out the door to do what I had asked. Only then did I relax a bit and fully focus on Raven.

"Why are you here?" I asked her.

"It's been a long time," Raven said to me. She sounded different, more mature, but I could tell how it was still her on the inside.

"So, do you want to explain why you're here?" I asked, my hand never once left my weapon. I knew things could turn gruesome in an instant, and so I had to be prepared for that moment should it happen.

With a smile that I haven't seen since Beacon, Raven looked at me with one of the most open expressions I could imagine.

"It's a long story."

* * *

 **AN: Well, this is my first MonCon entry so hopefully it turned out well enough for your tastes. I left things somewhat vague so that it could fit within the canon context, hopefully it works for you guys.**

 **Thanks for tuning in, feel free to review and let me know what you think of it!**


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